We’ve all got that comfy spot we throw ourselves into when we need to relax, be it lounging on the sofa, sprawling out on the bed, or kicking back in a patio chair. Adults and children need breaks to decompress every now and then.
While working at a preschool for children with special needs, the teachers and I created a cozy space for regulating emotion–aptly dubbed the “calm corner.”
Read about how calm corners in the classroom and home setting are pivotal to child social/emotional development in my most recent article for my school’s website.
The first decade of my adult life–i.e. the first decade of my career–I dedicated to animals. I of course dabbled in acting and writing, often merging the three, but I also dabbled in education as a private tutor and environmental educator.
To kick off the second decade of my adulthood, I switched careers, focusing full-time on education (and of course still dabbling with acting and writing and trying to teach kids about animals every chance that I get).
Yes, those are all drawings from my students who still can’t stop talking about my guinea pig even though she visited them months ago.
My end goal is still to open a sanctuary for animals with disabilities helping people with disabilities. I’ve seen first-hand in and out of the classroom how children connect with animals and come out of their shell.
Read about my experiences with animal therapy for children with disabilities in this article on my school’s website.
Calling all 20 and 30-year-olds–and parents of! Do you remember any of these ’90s toys from our childhood? These were big in my family. No Furbies or Tamagatchis for us! While some of these games were definitely present in the ’80s and even still today, these are the ’90s versions. Be still my nostalgic heart!
This was definitely one of my favorite games growing up, probably because I like food and picnics and you never knew when the picnic basket would pop open and ants would explode everywhere.
I was a huge Rugrats fan. Rugrats and Scooby-Doo! were my jam. This game was super complicated to set up and I would play it by myself in the corner of my room with my stuffed animals.
Definitely made my parents play this with me two Christmasses ago. And I had a mini heart attack because I thought the electronic credit card and bank machine was broken. It was just extremely corroded but we fixed it! My dad gets a kick out of my impersonation of the recorded voices: “Your item costs 5 dollars more.” “Attention all shoppers, there is a sale at the ‘Chitchen store… and at… the Fashion Boutique.”
Do you remember any of these? What’s your favorite ’90s toys and games? Share in the comments below!
Stacey Venzel 